The inventive subject matter generally relates to methods, systems and components for modular construction of buildings.
Construction of structures has traditionally used a process wherein raw or processed materials are sent to a construction site where the materials are further adjusted or manipulated to build the structure. This requires a labor intensive process where skilled laborers often make specific measurements in the field and communicate those measurements to someone who proceeds to make an alteration to raw or processed materials. As an example during the construction of a house, a worker may need to lay down a piece of wood flooring as part of a larger wood floor. The worker would measure the length of the opening for the piece of wood. The worker would then take a piece of wood flooring that is longer than the desired finished length, transfer the measurement taken, go to a saw, make a cut to the wood flooring and then attempt to install the piece of wood flooring into the rest of the floor. This process is repeated over and over again in a busy and often hectic environment leaving the worker open to making an error in his measurements or in the placement of cuts. These errors cost not only time and labor, but also wastes valuable material that may need to be replaced. This process and associated potential for error and additional costs are repeated in many other building situations including, installing joists, installing tiles, installing windows or doors, installing roofs, installing sheetrock, and many other elements that go into building a structure.
The use of modular structures and prefabricated materials sought to address some of these limitations wherein a predetermined basic shape and construction technique were used to more rapidly and consistently build structures. Many of these approaches still required a significant amount of assembly of materials at the final construction site and do not allow for significant parts to be constructed off site and transported to the site in an almost finished state. Further, many of these systems do not allow for easy scalability to very large or moderately small structures. Moreover, many of these systems do not allow for effective and easy use of current “green” technology.
As a background to additional construction techniques, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,295,307, 5,031,371, 5,884,437, 3,645,052, and US Patent Application 2005/0144857 show modular building structures and are hereby incorporated by reference in the entirety for all purposes.
While each of the referenced art techniques disclosed above may have its merits in its own right, there is a need to develop a more versatile, structurally sound, scalable modular building system that is easily and efficiently assembled on the job site and leverages many of the technological advances in construction materials today.